1. Field of the Invention
The present invention falls into the general category of sale and manufacture of eyeglasses. It concerns in particular a method and device for taking the necessary measurements for cutting and mounting the lenses, as well as the adjustment of the eyeglass frames without direct, physical contact between the wearer and the professional who will prepare the eyeglasses.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
Usually the person experiencing vision problems goes to see an ophthalmologist to have his visual pathology and the relative remedies diagnosed. The ophthalmologist writes a prescription indicating the detected pathologies and, if applicable, a prescription for eyeglasses with lenses having the appropriate corrective optical characteristics.
The patient then takes the prescription to an optician in order to select a frame and to have corrective lenses put in, as prescribed by the ophthalmologist.
In order to prepare these corrective lenses and to put them into the selected frame, it is necessary to take some precise measurements.
These measurements permit the proper positioning of the lenses. At present they are taken, on the one hand, along an essentially horizontal axis, with pupillary distance rulers to determine the “interpupillary distances” of the client, and, on the other hand, along a vertical axis with a measuring tape to evaluate the height between the lower edge of the lenses in the frame selected by the wearer (having the frame on his nose at this time) and his visual axis in a so-called normal posture, this distance being commonly called “the pupillary height”.
Once the correctives eyeglasses have been produced, the patient returns to the optician so that the eyeglasses can be adjusted, if necessary, to the shape of his face. This adjustment includes the setting of the pantoscopic angle (a term optical professionals are familiar with and which corresponds to the vertical tilt of the front of the frame when the wearer is looking at the horizon, in a natural posture, because, spontaneously we do not look at the horizon but at a virtual point on the ground located about ten meters in front of us), the opening of the tenons and the temples which will ensure the ‘fit’ of the frame on the wearer's head, the bend of the temples around the ears and the adjustment of the nose pads.
These efforts of preparation and production of the eyeglasses entail relatively high costs for the clients and for any social welfare organizations.
There exist however on telematics networks, such as the Internet, websites offering to fashion corrective eyeglasses which can be produced by providing the ophthalmologist's prescription and without having to go to an optician.
The sites offering this kind of service ask the patient to select the desired frame model, the color of the frame, the type of treatment of the desired lenses and to indicate the impairment of the right and of the left eye (sphere, cylinder, axis, addition) as stated on the prescription issued by the ophthalmologist.
Finally, the client must state precisely his or her pupillary distance, an indispensable value for the positioning of the lenses in the eyeglass frame; but this value which is rarely supplied during the visit at the ophthalmologist's office, is measured during the visit at the optician and remains most often unknown to the client.
Certain sites offer to contact the client, so that a professional may explain how to measure the pupillary distance. Other sites provide the client with a measuring kit (the VIKTORIN® method) in form of a free download that can be printed out.
Such a measuring kit is made of paper and may seem tedious to use. It is difficult for individuals to obtain precise measurements of the pupillary distance, all the more so as these persons are by nature “visually deficient”.
Furthermore, accessible sites on the Internet offering these services are quite unable to perform the aforementioned adjustments that are traditionally made by the optician when the client comes to pick up his or her eyeglasses.
One is familiar, for example, with the document WO98/1522 which describes a template of optical glasses, made of cardboard, analog to an eyeglass frame, intended for the remote manufacture of eyeglasses. This template includes two spaced openings which are connected by a bridge, and two sliding temples at each lateral end of said template. Markings are distributed along the edges of its outside face and its temples. It includes also, on its outside face, slots for receiving sliding tabs that are configured for the measurements of the pupillary distance.
However, it is clear that the user who takes measurements of the pupillary distance with this kind of template with its numerous articulations will generally not be able to supply the precise values required for the manufacture of the eyeglasses. Utilization of this device takes a lot of time, is complex and tedious and may lead to errors in the interpretation of the pupillary distance. It should also be noted that this device very likely cannot be used by visually impaired persons, although it is intended for them, because they are asked to aim for a target located far away, through the eye of a needle.
And there is also the real technical difficulty for the printing and cardboard cutting industries to combine with precision, in large series production, printing and cutting. Whereas, looking for values in the order of a few tenths of millimeters is what is called for.